The Cat At The Wall

The Cat At The Wall

On the West Bank, a cat sneaks into a small Palestinian house that has just been commandeered by two Israeli soldiers. The house seems empty, until the cat realizes that a little boy is hiding beneath the floorboards.

Should she help him?After all, she’s just a cat.

Or is she?

It turns out that this particular cat is not used to thinking about anyone but herself. She was once a regular North American girl who only had to deal with normal middle-school problems — staying under the teachers’ radar, bullying her sister and the uncool kids at school, outsmarting her clueless parents.

But that was before she died and came back to life as a cat, in a place with a whole different set of rules for survival.

When the little boy is discovered, the soldiers don’t know what to do with him. Where are the child’s parents? Why has he been left alone in the house? It is not long before his teacher and classmates come looking for him, and the house is suddenly surrounded by Palestinian villagers throwing rocks, and the sound of Israeli tanks approaching.

Not my business, thinks the cat. And then she sees a photograph, and suddenly she understands what happened to the boy’s parents, and why they have not returned. And as the soldiers begin to panic, and disaster seems certain, she knows that it is up to her to diffuse the situation.

But what can a cat do? What can any one creature do?

Fiction

Fiction

Fiction

Fiction

The Breadwinner Series

In 1996, when Deb read about the Taliban occupation of Afghanistan, and about their brutal treatment of girls and women, she decided that she had to get involved. She visited refugee camps in Pakistan, met Afghan women and heard about their experiences. She was particularly struck by the story of a young girl who cut off her hair and disguised herself as a boy so she could earn money to support her family. Deb knew she had to turn that story into a book. The result was the Breadwinner novels, about young Parvana and her best friend, Shauzia.

Royalties from the sale of My Name Is Parvana will go to a special account managed by Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan. Parvana’s Fund supports education projects for Afghan women and children, including women’s resource centers, libraries, literacy programs and community schools.

Looking for X

Winner of the Governor General's Literary Award

In this urban adventure story, Khyber, a smart, bold eleven-year-old girl from a poor neighborhood, sets out to find her friend X, a mysterious homeless woman who has gone missing. The desperate search takes Khyber on a long, all-night odyssey that proves to be wilder than any adventure she has ever imagined.

Non-fiction

Non-Fiction

Non-fiction

Non-Fiction

Looks Like Daylight

Voices of Indigenous Kids

After her critically acclaimed books of interviews with Afghan, Iraqi, Israeli and Palestinian children, Deborah Ellis turns her attention closer to home. For two years she traveled across the United States and Canada interviewing Indigenous youth. The result is a compelling collection of interviews with children aged nine to eighteen. They come from all over the continent, from Iqaluit to Texas, Haida Gwaii to North Carolina, and their stories run the gamut — some heartbreaking; many others full of pride and hope.

Kids of Kabul

Joint winner of the South Asia Book Award, longlisted for the Children’s Literature Roundtables of Canada Information Book Award, selected for the IRA Notable Books for a Global Society List, the Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children’s Books of the Year, the USBBY Outstanding International Books List, and the CCBC Choices List.